Author: LoveWorld UK

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Europe over the weekend to demonstrate against their respective governments’ recent decisions to reimplement COVID-19 rules and mandates following reported increases in cases. Thousands of peaceful protesters demonstrated in central Brussels on Dec. 19 for the third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the government. The marchers—some with placards reading “Free Zone,” “I’ve had my fair dose,” and “Enough is enough”—turned out to protest the government’s recent mandates. The Belgian protest came a day after similar protests in other capitals including Paris and London; nations across Europe have moved to reimpose tougher measures to…

Boris Johnson is under renewed pressure to answer questions over alleged gatherings held at Number 10 after the emergence of a photo taken when lockdown restrictions on meeting others were still in place. The picture, first published by The Guardian, shows the prime minister, his wife Carrie with their then-newborn baby Wilfred, and colleagues with wine and cheese in the Downing Street garden on 15 May 2020 during the first national lockdown. Nineteen people were present and there were “spirits and pizza inside and outside the building”, the newspaper reported. It happened at a time when people were still being asked…

Rail fares in England are to rise by 3.8% in March, the government has confirmed, in line with July’s RPI inflation rate. The latest increase – revealed in the Guardian after a leak this month – is less than some feared after fares went up above the RPI inflation rate in March of this year. However, with current inflation rates running much higher, and many former season ticket-holders in the commuter belt working from home, the fare rise is likely to be met with less passenger outcry than in previous years. Industry leaders have argued for a freeze to tempt passengers back to the…

Lib Dem candidate Helen Morgan overturned a huge Tory majority to triumph in the contest, which was sparked by the resignation of Owen Paterson amid a lobbying scandal. Boris Johnson has said he takes “personal responsibility” after his Conservative Party lost the North Shropshire by-election in a shock result that has dealt another significant blow to his premiership. Lib Dem candidate Helen Morgan overturned a huge Tory majority to triumph in the contest, which was sparked by the resignation of Owen Paterson amid a lobbying scandal. Speaking to broadcasters following the result, the prime minister said: “I am responsible for everything the government…

A panel of experts who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccines is meeting Thursday to discuss updates to a severe condition linked to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. The panel will listen to presentations by CDC officials on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which U.S. drug regulators say has a “causal relationship” with the jab, according to a draft agenda for the meeting. The syndrome is a combination of blood clots and low blood platelet levels. Concern over patients getting the syndrome after getting the vaccine led to a near-nationwide pause in administering the shot in…

Premier League shareholders are set to meet on Monday to discuss a festive shutdown of football, according to reports, as its clubs struggle with several coronavirus outbreaks. Half of this weekend’s fixtures in England’s top-flight have been called off due to widespread cases among many clubs, with Brentford boss Thomas Frank leading calls to temporarily stop the busy winter schedule so the affected teams can recover. That is not the view shared by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish, with the latter claiming there is not a high enough ‘level of postponements’ to justify a temporary pause. Yet according to The Times, Premier…

The chief executives of some major U.S. airlines questioned on Dec. 15 how much wearing masks onboard flights helps to limit exposure to COVID-19, noting that an aircraft is “the safest place you can be.” American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby made the comments during a Senate Commerce committee hearing on aviation issues, titled “Oversight of the U.S. Airline Industry.” The hearing focused on the Payroll Support Program that Congress designed to protect the airline workforce and support the continuity of safe and essential travel amid the pandemic. But the topic of masks arose via a question from Sen. Roger…

The Liberal Democrats have won a stunning victory in the North Shropshire byelection, taking what had previously been a safe Conservative seat by a margin of nearly 6,000 votes, and capping a disastrous few weeks for Boris Johnson. Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem candidate, won 17,957 votes, ahead of the Conservatives’ Neil Shastri-Hurst, on 12,032, a majority of 5,925. Labour’s Ben Wood was third, with 3,686 votes. Turnout was 46.3%. The calamitous collapse in Conservative support – a 34% swing in a seat where they had a near-23,000 majority in 2019 – will prompt significant jitters among many Tory MPs, and is…

The Metropolitan Police have been urged to investigate a lockdown-busting Christmas party attended by ex-London mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey that took place in the basement of Conservative Party HQ. Mr Bailey yesterday quit as chairman of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee after the Mirror published a photo which showed him posing with dozens of Tory aides at the party on December 14, when London was in Tier 2 restrictions. Labour, Lib Dem and Green Party politicians on the London Assembly have written to Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick to demand an investigation. The Metropolitan Police have been urged…

Mercedes will not make any further appeal against the dramatic events in Abu Dhabi which saw Max Verstappen crowned world champion over Lewis Hamilton. The team, which had already made two unsuccessful protests against the decision which led to Hamilton’s defeat in a last-lap shootout on Sunday, had until Thursday evening to make a final appeal. However, in a statement, Mercedes said that conversations with Hamilton, combined with Wednesday’s announcement by the FIA that it would investigate what happened in Abu Dhabi, meant they would withdraw from taking any further action. “We left Abu Dhabi in disbelief of what we had just…